


Falling With Style

by d_a_f_punk



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Jedi Training, Jedi should laugh more, Meet-Cute, Prequel, Slapstick, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-22
Updated: 2017-10-22
Packaged: 2019-01-21 15:11:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12460353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/d_a_f_punk/pseuds/d_a_f_punk
Summary: In which not-yet-Knight Hoisin learns that you have to fall before you can balance.(That's definitely not a metaphor. No, sir.)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story follows two of my OCs through their training prior to the start of the canon timeline. 
> 
> "Hello Nexu" belongs to damarlegacy; if you don't follow them on tumblr you are missing out.

Hoisin was hiding in the library.

Well, if you asked her, she’d say she wasn’t hiding, exactly. The Obroa-skai archive was enormous; was it her fault if she was easy to miss in there? She’d found a little corner alcove that was the perfect place to practice her mental shields. Her shielding needed work. Master Carala had told her so yesterday. So, really, this was studying, not hiding. From a certain point of view.

It had been one standard week since Hoisin had been brought to Obroa-skai, more or less. The days here were slightly longer than Coruscant standard, which she’d only just gotten used to in the first place, so she wasn’t entirely certain how much time had passed. Too much, or not enough, or maybe both at the same time; the days, however many of them there were, had all been rough.

First, there was the kerfuffle over her Academy enrollment paperwork. She had wanted to change her name, and they wouldn’t let her. Keeping her Cheunh name was asking for trouble, she argued. If the Chiss Ascendancy ever found her on a passenger manifest or some such thing, they would treat her as a threat to be eliminated. (And, really, she did not add, won’t the Republic do the same? It’s not as though Chiss people are welcomed here with open arms.) But the functionary processing her enrollment had been adamant. Chtho’is’inrokini was the name on her asylum-seeker’s ID, and Chtho’is’inrokini it would have to stay. It was a matter of policy. 

Of course, after all that, no one could pronounce it. 

It wasn’t even her full name that was giving people trouble; if it had been, she would have understood. Cheunh was a difficult language, and most species didn’t have the vocal cords for it. But masters and initiates alike were struggling to simply pronounce “Hoisin.” She was losing track of all the failed attempts. Hossen? Hoyden? Hoser? It might have been funny if it weren’t so frustrating. 

Then there were the endless questions about what her life was like "before." They weren’t meant to be rude, she was almost sure of it, but they set her teeth on edge notwithstanding. And there was an undertone of - well, it was hard to know what to call it, but it made Hoisin nervous. Her classmates all exclaimed about how brave she was, how terrible her escape must have been, how glad she must be that the Jedi Order had found her. They were all smiles, but their eyes never stopped looking her up and down, searching for all this bravery, terror, and gladness they expected.

And on top of that, she wasn’t doing well with the lessons. Hoisin’s Force abilities had manifested late, and it seemed like everyone else in this school had been training for years already. They’d put her in a class with other initiates of her age, but her teachers were starting to take her aside and ask if she wouldn’t rather learn with the students at her own experience level. Hoisin refused them all; if she let that happen, she’d be surrounded by ten-year-old children, and they’d still be outperforming her. No one had actually insisted that she switch classes, but she worried that soon they would force her to. She sighed, and buried her forehead in her hands. None of this was helping her concentration.

“Tough day?” 

Yelping slightly, Hoisin shot up straight in her chair - and promptly banged her head against the low ceiling of the alcove. “Ktah!” she spat, and then stiffened; it wasn’t a word she should have just shouted in the library. Especially not in front of a stranger who was trying to make conversation. 

Time to start over.

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. When she opened them again, the stranger was still there. Hoisin made a face “No, my day’s going just fine. Why do you ask?”

The other girl laughed, and stuck out a hand. “I’m Bearra, and I heard you’re the only other person in this place who didn’t move in as a toddler or whatever. Nice to meet you.” 

Hoisin accepted the handshake, and looked Bearra up and down. Brown hair, short and deliberately rumpled. Eye covering - that meant Miraluka, almost definitely. Initiate’s robe, but embellished around the collar - wait. “Is that a Hello Nexu pin?”

Bearra grinned. “Sure is! Want one?” She unclasped the pin, and held it out. “I have lots more.”  
For a second, she looked almost embarrassed. “I have to admit, I wasn’t able to get your name.”

Oh, no, here we go again. “It’s Hoisin,” she said, trying not to let her smile falter.

“Hoisin.” Bearra repeated it thoughtfully, committing it to memory. “Hoisin, Hoisin.” 

She pronounced it perfectly.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our heroes meet again; slapstick and self-doubt ensue.

“Look out!”

Hoisin felt the Force augmenting the abrupt yank on her arm; without it, she would definitely have lost her footing on the smooth Academy floor. She whirled around just in time to see a stranger in padawan robes drop out of the air, posterior-first, above where she’d been standing only a moment before. The projectile student managed a reasonably neat backwards tuck and roll, and even gave Hoisin a jaunty wave as he walked away. Points for style, she supposed. But where did - 

“Hasn’t anybody warned you about these stairs? They’re a menace, you know.” 

The voice made Hoisin spin around for the second time in less than a minute, and this time she did lose her balance. Arms flailing wildly, she careened headfirst into her would-be rescuer and knocked them both to the floor. From that position, eyes tightly closed to ward off impending embarrassment, Hoisin became dimly aware that someone was laughing. 

“That was - hooooo, I’m sorry - the best thing I’ve seen in weeks,” panted the laughing girl. “The look on your face! And then the other look on your face, after you slipped! And then you headbutted me!” 

Hoisin’s eyes flew open, and she sprang off the ground. “Oh, stars, I’m sorry. Do you need healing, or -” She trailed off, finally realizing that the other person was someone she actually knew. “Oh. Hi! It’s Bearra, right?”

“Call me Bear, please.” The other girl - Bear - stood up, still wheezing a bit with laughter. “You’re lucky I was here. Never walk that close to the stairs if you can help it, and keep an eye out for falling students at all times.”

“This is a thing that happens often?” Hoisin boggled. “But why?”

Bear shrugged. “Rite of passage, I guess? Once you learn how to break your fall with the Force,you just…don’t take the stairs anymore. Stairs are for brand-new initiates, younglings, and boring people. Everyone else jumps down from the railings.” She smirked at Hoisin’s scandalized expression. “Actually, on Tython, they have this giant holocron thing right by the Academy stairs. If you can jump to the top of it from the second floor balcony, your name will be remembered in Jedi legends forever.” The smirk widened into a smile. “There are holos. I’ll show you.”

Hoisin, sputtering, tried to collect her thoughts. “But...but... that can’t be permitted, can it?”

“It can’t,” Bear agreed, “and it isn’t. Technically. But most of the Masters here did the very same thing when they began their studies. They will look the other way as long as you aren’t being stupid. Except for Master Carala, that is. Never let her see you. Ever.”

Hoisin gulped and nodded vigorously. “Understood. But -”

Bear’s smile bloomed into a wicked grin. “Really? You haven’t had enough buts for one afternoon?” The joke didn’t land right away; Hoisin just looked confused. “You know,” she persisted, “because one of them almost landed on you a minute ago?”

It took a couple more seconds, and then realization broke across Hoisin’s face like a wave. She burst out laughing, loud enough to echo throughout the stairwell and earn a few disapproving stares from passersby. The laughter stopped as suddenly as it had started; violet with embarrassment, she lowered her gaze to the floor.

“Hey.” Bear tentatively patted Hoisin’s shoulder. “You know, they try to keep this a secret, but Jedi are actually allowed to laugh. Check the archive, it’s happened at least three times in recorded history.” This got a chuckle; Bear nodded her approval. “That’s better. Hey, what was it you were going to ask me before?”

Hoisin sighed deeply. “How does everybody just know how to do all this stuff? I don’t know how. I know I haven’t been trained as much, but shouldn’t I be able to do some of it? Master Jerrett said that I needed to practice my lightsaber forms and learn balance before I could call on the Force to help me. I mean physical balance, not the meditation kind. Wait, maybe I mean both? I don’t know! I don’t know, because no one will tell me. And - “ She shrugged helplessly. “I can’t balance. Physically, I mean. The meditation is fine, or at least I think it is. Just, when I move suddenly, I fall, or I do something else embarrassing.” She was speaking rapidly now, thoughts falling directly from brain to mouth in a colorful jumble. “I thought maybe I could use the Force to fix it, but Master Jerrett says that’s not how it works. But it seems like that’s how it works for everybody else, and I’m scared that I’m never going to be good enough at this to be a Jedi, and -”

It was Bear’s turn to sigh. “Well, I don’t know what lesson they want you to learn from all this, but I’m sure they don’t mean to send you into a panic.” Her expression lightened a little. “Well, really, I’m not entirely sure of that, but it doesn’t seem like Master Jerrett’s style.” She paused, to see if this was going over well. It did not appear to be. “I’m sorry, that was a joke again. Probably not the time or place.” She shook her head. “ Anyway, whatever the lesson is meant to be, it clearly isn’t helping you. That’s not your fault. Really, it isn’t!”

Hoisin still did not seem to be much comforted. Bear glanced wildly around in desperation, and her eyes fell on the big front doorway. “Okay. Listen, I’m not a Master or a teacher, but I can help you learn how to fall at the very least.” She grinned. “Get your coat. We’re going to go climb things and then jump off of them.”


End file.
